Outdoor barbecue grilling is a common pastime and method of cooking in the United States and elsewhere. Oftentimes, food is cooked using a rotisserie unit which supports and rotates the food over the coals or heating element in a firebox. The firebox is typically covered with a hood which holds in the heat and smoke during cooking to cook and flavor the food. The rotisserie unit includes a rod which supports and rotates the food over the hot coals or burner. The rod may be supported through the food, for example if the food is a whole chicken, the rod may be inserted through the central cavity of the chicken. Additionally, most rotisserie units include an electric motor which receives one end of the rod and causes the rod to rotate. The motor and the distal end of the rod are usually supported by brackets which are mounted to either the opposing sides of the firebox or to shelves next to the firebox. In addition, the rotisserie unit may or may not include a rotisserie rod handle on the distal end of the rod and may include one or more rotisserie forks attached to the rod to assist in holding the food and causing it to rotate along with the rod.
Typically, one end of the rotisserie rod attaches to the motor by inserting into a fitted hole in the motor. The distal end of the rod typically has a handle to aid in the placement and movement of the rod. The rod itself may be either of square or circular cross-section. Both ends of the rod are typically supported either by the firebox or by brackets attached at either end of the firebox. A semicircular notch in the upper circumferential edge of the firebox or in the bracket is sometimes provided to support the rod and facilitate its rotation. If the rod is square, however, the provision of such a notch does not improve rotation.
Rotisserie units generally are not supplied with a barbecue grill when the grill is purchased but are instead sold as after-market accessories. Due to the different configurations of fireboxes supplied by the different grill manufacturers, it is important that the rotisserie unit be universally adaptable. Accordingly, rotisserie unit brackets have been designed with this feature in mind. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,676 to Johnston teaches a rotisserie bracket assembly wherein the bracket which holds the motor attaches to a side shelf of the barbecue grill. This assembly is thus designed to support a rotisserie unit regardless of the shape of the firebox. Barbecue grills typically have a hood that generally is closed while cooking to enhance the cooking and flavoring of the food. Many grill hoods have 2 notches cut in a lower circumferential edge to allow for passage of the rotisserie rod. However, the hood may not have these notches or they may not be appropriately sized. Thus, the bracket assembly taught by Johnston is not useful for all types of barbecue grills because with some grills the hood contacts the rotisserie rod when the hood is closed. This prevents the rod from rotating properly and causes excess wear and tear on the rotisserie rod and the motor.
Another problem typically encountered when using rotisserie units is that the food is not tightly attached to the rotisserie rod and the food will not rotate with the rod but rather the rod will freely rotate within the food. Methods have been developed which cause the food to rotate along with the rod. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,971 to Beller teaches a shish-kabob rotisserie having double skewer members arranged around a center rod, with each skewer having one end releasibly attached to the rod. The skewers are not adjustable as to length, so that food items of all sizes must fit onto the skewers. U.S. Pat. No. 3,473,464 to Lasker teaches a rotisserie assembly wherein skewers are held between two disks fixedly connected to a rotisserie rod and are detachable from the disks. However, the size of the food item being cooked is limited by the length of the skewers. In addition, this assembly is difficult to assemble and disassemble for cleaning.